0 comments by Tim Starks on 6/25/2016
For the second fight in a row, heavyweight talent Anthony Joshua put a fringe contender in a vice and exploded him. In Saturday’s fight on Showtime, the vice was applied slowly, but he kept the pressure on until Dominic Breazeale crumpled along the ropes in the 7th round. The difference between Breazeale and Joshua’s last […]
0 comments by Cathal McGuigan on 6/14/2016
The announcement that professional boxers will be able to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics is certainly controversial, but is undeniably one of the most interesting developments in the amateur game in a long time. It remains to be seen whether any pros feel the need to try for a medal and can stand the […]
SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – MARCH 26: Kell Brook prepares to enter the arena prior to the IBF World Welterweight Championship between Kell Brook and Kevin Bizier at Sheffield Arena on March 26, 2016 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 5/4/2016
Welcome to our first pound-for-pound list of 2016. If it seems overdue, it’s because the first couple months offered little prospect for movement. The two most recent? That’s been more productive for the best fighters in the world regardless of weight. Manny Pacquiao’s departure shakes thing up a little, and Takashi Uchiyama’s loss leaves another […]
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 5: Nate Diaz applies a choke hold to win by submission against Conor McGregor during UFC 196 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 5, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 3/9/2016
There’s some hand-wringing over in the mixed martial arts world about last weekend’s losses, which spoiled some of the UFC’s plans for some of its biggest stars. MMA friends, some unsolicited counsel, from a long-suffering boxing fan: Don’t panic, and don’t criticize the UFC for being too aggressive in its matchmaking for its stars. For […]
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 05: Sadam Ali falls to the mat after taking a punch from Jessie Vargas in their vacant WBO welterweight title match at the DC Armory on March 5, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 3/6/2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Let’s do something we don’t do often around these parts. Let’s ask you to set aside the truth of the matter about HBO’s main event Saturday night, which is that it was lackluster matchmaking that wasn’t really worthy of main event status on even a lesser network. Acknowledge the dark truth of it, […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 2/8/2016
What? Something in boxing was FAKE? You mean that after their hilarious confrontation in the ring on HBO, Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson were hugging off camera? Shocking. Or is this what’s shocking: That trainer Freddie Roach was the one who alleged the forgery? Roach, who doesn’t even pretend that he’s not bullshitting us half the […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 1/29/2016
What in the living fu-. How is welterweight Danny Garcia regularly doing some of the best ratings that the “Premier Boxing Champions” series ever has done, even against Robert Guerrero in a match-up that not many people viewed as particularly competitive? I guess people like unconventional hairlines, cuz LeBron James is popular, too. It’s almost as […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 1/17/2016
Deontay Wilder had his hands full briefly Saturday night on Showtime before those hands eventually found their target on Artur Szpilka’s noggin, ending in a spectacular one-shot knockout. The physically gifted heavyweight finally faced someone with a pulse after a series of no-hopers following his breakthrough early-2015 win over Bermane Stiverne, a win that hinted […]
0 comments by Alex McClintock on 1/6/2016
With 2015 in the rear view mirror, it’s time for some black magic. We’re busting out the tarot cards and the crystal ball, and we’re telling boxing’s fortune. Here are TQBR’s predictions for 2016: Heavyweight won’t get exciting just yet We have a new heavyweight champion (pictured, dressed as Batman) after a decade of Klitschko dominance, […]
0 comments by Lou Catalano on 1/1/2016
2015 was a strange year for boxing. Like “Charles In Charge,” we took a lot of “bad” to go with the “good.” We got huge fights like Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao, free fights like Keith Thurman vs Robert Guerrero, and no fights like Showtime. New stars emerged, while some faded away before our eyes. Lineal […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/30/2015
Welcome to The Queensberry Rules’ annual year-end boxing awards, continuing this week. Here’s how we do it around these parts: The major categories are Knockout of the Year, Round of the Year, Fight of the Year and Fighter of the Year. The final leg, which will finish after, is a pu-pu platter of awards ranging from […]
0 comments by Springs Toledo on 12/21/2015
Tyson Fury knows what the alphabet gangs do not: They don’t decide who the real champ is. Showtime’s Brian Custer recently referred to Deontay Wilder as the “world heavyweight champion” and so contributed to the mass confusion in boxing. Would-be fans —precisely the demographic the sport needs to attract— scratched their heads and wondered […]
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 22: Tyson Fury gestures towards Dereck Chisora during the Dereck Chisora And Tyson Fury Press Conference at The Grosvenor House on September 22, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/1/2015
About the only thing the new heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, has in common with the man he replaced, Wladimir Klitschko, is that he’s really tall — taller that Klitschko, even, at 6’9″. Outside the ring, Klitschko ruled the division with decorum. Fury won’t. He’s a madman, and perhaps not just figuratively. August publications the New Yorker […]
0 comments by Jeff Pryor on 11/30/2015
The decade long reign of heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko came to an end on Saturday when towering upstart Tyson Fury out-soft-shoed him to sing and dance away with the big boy crown. (More on that singing down the line.) Was this the end of an era or a brief interlude until Klitschko — or Dr. […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 11/28/2015
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new heavyweight champion. And he’s an absolute maniac. Tyson Fury took Wladimir Klitschko’s crown Saturday, and while it wasn’t a stellar performance in the ring, as long as Fury reigns it will be a very different administration. Klitschko was a gentleman, an owner of a PhD and does work […]
